DIVINE GRACE

In a village near Khatu, there lived a goldsmith who boasted of being agnostic[1]. He had nothing but contempt for all swamis and yogis.

One day he took part in a wedding procession which happened to pass by Mahaprabhuji's ashram at the time of satsang. Curiosity prompted the goldsmith to stop in and look what was happening. Being agnostic, he also wanted to know the methods by which he imagined Mahaprabhuji deceived people. With this object in mind, he entered the ashram, intending to reproach Mahaprabhuji at the first opportunity.

Mahaprabhuji smiled at him and offered a warm welcome. In that very moment, the mind of the goldsmith completely changed.

"Oh sir, I ask you to permit me to stay with you!" he exclaimed and in his euphoria he immediately wanted to take swami initiation.

The members of his family witnessed this sudden and dramatic change. Being afraid of the situation, they implored Mahaprabhuji to send the goldsmith back home. Mahaprabhuji replied that at this moment there was no possibility of keeping the goldsmith away from the ashram and so advised that he should stay for some time.

"He has reacted intensely to the spirit of this place without being prepared for the experience," Mahaprabhuji explained. "Here he is liberated from all earthly bonds and feels himself in vairagya[2]. But the time has not yet come for him to renounce the outer world, so in three days I will send him back home to you."

After three days the goldsmith had a dream in the early hours of the morning in which he quarrelled with his wife, took a water jug and left home. In the middle of the dream, Mahaprabhuji woke him.

"You are still very much attached to your family and this dream is a sign for you to return. Of course you may come here from time to time, but only when I grant permission."

Mahaprabhuji knew the soul of the goldsmith and so knew that it was still too early for him to take initiation as a swami. For if he failed in gaining a firm foundation in God, he also would have lost the worldly life that he renounced.

[1]agnostic = one who denies the existence of God and the experience of Divine Truth.